The invention relates to a pack, in particular for sensitive material wound to a roll on a rigid core, having a width between wide limits, comprising a stiff circular-cylindrical tube with closing means which are disposed at right angles to the central axis, and at least one of which is detachably fixed, both closing means of each pack being provided with centering means for the core of the roll, such that the wound roll material in all positions of the pack is exclusively carried by the core on the centering means and nowhere along its circumference touches the pack.
Packs of the type described above are known from the French Patent Specification No. 2,224,361. It is therefore surprising that it is still a regular occurrence for rolls of wound sensitive material for transport and/or storage to be even less efficiently packed than with the known simple tubes. Although the invention is not expressly limited to it, the commonly used pack for rolls of light-sensitive photosetting material will be discussed as an example. The manufacturer packs the rolls individually in lightproof and moisture-proof film and places this unit in a cardboard box. When it arrives at the user's, the pack must be opened and the film removed in complete darkness, and the roll must then be placed in the photosetting machine. It is then found that the roll cannot be placed in the photosetting machine because the roll and core have become oval during transportation and/or storage, or the material on the roll is damaged, in particular at the corner edges, so that the photosetting machine refuses to work or the results is poor type-setting, inter alia because the material is damaged or is not flat. It is known per se to place the rolls in lightproof cassettes at the manufacturer's, to send them, and then to place the complete cassette in the photosetting machine. These cassettes are, however, relatively expensive. Another disadvantage is that many types and sizes of photosetting machines are used in practice, using rolls of material with roll widths and material web varying between about 5 and 125 cam and more. The diameter of the rolls for the majority of the photosetting machines is about 15 cm or less. With this great diversity occurring in practice, the cassettte system is therefore not flexible enough.
It follows from the above that there is, surprisingly, a need for packs for fragile rolls of wound, sensitive material which can be adapted in a flexible way to the various known and future sizes, and which are preferably so simple that they can be regarded as disposable packs. They must also be easier to use for the manufacturer and the user.